Arpeggio of Souls
by Limit Removal
Summary: A story of friendship between Kanade, The Programmer and I as we aim to graduate souls from the afterlife. But I know every good thing will end. Afterlife is not a paradise, it is never meant to be one. A distant prequel before Angel Beats!
1. End of A Life, Beginning of Another

My first fanfic I ever wrote. This story serves as a non-canon (of course) prequel to Angel Beats ~Heaven's Door~, Angel Beats ~Track Zero~ and the main series. Will probably be ruined when the Angel Beats VN/season 2 come out. This story is also not-so-perfect, expect some minor errors in storyline or grammar.

* * *

**Angel Beats – Arpeggio of Souls  
**_Arpeggio: A chord whose notes are played in rapid succession rather than simultaneously._

**Chapter 1** – End of a **Life**, Beginning of **Another**

The sounds of other engines pierce my eardrums.

My motorcycle is in its best, I can't lose here. The Glockensberg speedway is used to be an airfield, so the road is smoother than the skin, so smooth that it is able to reflect the bright moon partially. An extension to the highway was added and finished two months ago, that's the finish line, my destination. Ten Kilometers, the road left unsecured and liable of traffic.

My opponent is another low-class biker, so I have little point in winning and great shame in losing, as I said, a pretty much pointless race against a newbie. No risk in losing, either, I don't have a face in the world of motorcycle racing. Everyone's rooting for the opponent (it seems that the spectators are mostly his friend); nobody is in my side, that can't be helped since this is the fourth race I drive in my life. Hoping to become a dark horse, I steady my gaze at my opponent.

His appearance doesn't matter, nor does mine matter. There is only tension and little strategy involved. Turn the valve to max and dash like the wind, ignore the negative cheering, and remove anything else from my consciousness. Time the gear changes to the exact milliseconds and stick the pair of eyes to the road; these are the decisive factors.

I step up and ride my motorcycle, my helm acts as a wall between myself and the world, my determination obstructs the wave of sounds. I am now ready. With a button press the machine starts operating, a Japanese import; it gives the impression of being versatile. But in truth, a motorcycle is a motorcycle, it has limits and weaknesses.

I actually raced against my will.

It is a sad story. My girlfriend and I have been secretly dating. Obviously, we dated secretly because our parents didn't allow us to. Until one day, when my parents find out. They went on a rampage and exiled me from the only shelter I had at that time, home. Three months afterwards, my father died and my mother performed suicide. If not for my beloved, I would have taken the same path as my mother did. It didn't take long until I started renting an apartment and lived there. Things went smoothly for a while. Until my beloved became bedridden.

If she didn't go under an operation, she will die. I don't want that, I never wanted that. I don't want to lose everything. But her family cannot afford such a costly operation. Her limit is a month from now. So, I undergo a series of underground races with absurdly high stakes. When I stated by bet, I lied, I don't have much to offer but I lied because I thought I will win. And this is the fourth race in that series.

This race is the fourth race, out of the sixteen races I will have to race.

The engine generates power like crazy; both of us are pushing our rides to its extreme, yearning for the happiness of being victorious. I am on the lead by roughly one and a half second. The terrain is the best that I've set my motorcycle on; it helps when I have a very soft tire equipped. But that preparation is in vain, there are practically no corners.

Shift. We are both in the third gear, cutting the night at over one hundred kilometers per hour. We pass the first intersection, red light, but no traffic persists. The sound of cheering has dimmed in amplitude, giving way for maximum concentration. We passed the second intersection, no traffic is here, either.

Two seconds of difference between him and me. I could see my opponent getting left behind via the rearview mirror, poor newbie. But he did his best. We entered a narrow road. Even made narrower because a stupid lane divider is there to make things more difficult. Two motorcycles driving side by side are enough to cover the width of the road, and that's even when the two said motorcycles doesn't mind the risk of bumping to each other.

There's a sudden urge to brake; a sense that I'm in a grave danger and will never made it to the final gear. However, my stubbornness allows me to break free. I tighten my grip and continued to speed. Sudden braking is dangerous for me and my opponent, who is right behind me in this narrow road. Shift. I had just reached the fourth, the second-to-last gear. The tension advances further. Suddenly, sound of an engine resonates from my back. Is it my opponent? If so, then he is eating the distance between and that is not good racing-wise.

No, the sound is strange; my opponent is pushing his ride to its limit. As if he is chased by something. I am intrigued. But I can't use the rearview mirror because it's too bright. Has my opponent has turned on his high beam? What for? And so, I turned my face to see what's behind me. I still can't see the frightened face of my opponent.

He died so suddenly.

There is a sharp, loud sound of metal clashing. Something in his engine snapped. No, rather, something just struck his engine at a blinding speed. I can think of one thing only that struck his engine at those circumstances, and that thing is never good. Within the next second, I see my opponent, along with his motorcycle turning into a ball of fire.

It is a part of human instinct to stay alive, and a fireball of death is chasing me. Instinctively, I turned the acceleration valve to its extreme and pray for my survival silently. Strange indeed, God has been so unfair to me. Giving me this life filled with hatred. And so, I always hated him. Yet when the distance between me and my death are so close, I prayed to Him. It seems that religion has messed me up.

No time to think, that forsaken fireball is closing in. I cannot break my calm here, too. I'll spit to death in his face. Whatever power is there that manages life and death, mark my words. I _will not_ die here.

My ride is at its max speed. But it isn't enough. I need to think of a way so that fireball… what? It is engulfed in fire, but that motorcycle is still there. Think about it, that fireball should be slowing down as time goes on, not the contrary. So death _is_ a stubborn brat. That thing is not possible, a motorcycle that still goes on, even after it was engulfed by fire.

I will get outta here alive, there are no turns for another hundred of meters, which is more than enough for that fireball to catch up. Ah, I think of a plan. I grab my scarf and make a simple roll at the valve with the rear brakes.

I loosen my grip at the valve, in theory, this is suicidal. But in practice, inertia will work on my side at the hefty price of my right arm.

I jumped forwards from my motorcycle and pulled the scarf, my ride should be braking itself now and I should be thrown away by the force of inertia, and the fire-engulfed ride of my opponent should crash with my slow ride and stop.

I am horribly wrong. I didn't roll the scarf enough, as a result, I jumped forward from my motorcycle without braking. So, one of the following will happen:

A, I died. Slammed by my own motorcycle.

B, I died. Slammed by the fireball I'm trying to escape from. A more preferable way of death.

My ride spins and get thrown out of the way. Great, I got option B.

*sigh* God, a life filled with hatred, And a stupid death on top of that? Come on, there are many places to see. Many people to meet and many things to experience.

I stand in this tragic situation, I can't run with my injured leg. I'm lucky that I'm able to stand. Death, it is so near… I need a miracle, a deus ex machina, to rescue me from this. And because things won't work like in the movies, I don't expect one, although I am longing for one right now.

"And even if I died, I will either be back online, or reborn as a better person." I amend my words. But… what will happen to her, what will happen to my beloved. If she doesn't undergo that operation, her hope of recovery will be reduced to nil. And if that happens, who will be there for her? Her parents won't last long due to their old age. To simply abandon her like that, to neutralize the value of her life… is unacceptable.

But I cannot go on, my final prayer is so she will be able to enjoy her life the way it is, lonely, bound to paralysis she will not be able to recover from. So she will pass on without regrets like I do now. Besides, I have to enjoy the last moments of my life, right?

I never see an explosion up so close; it is just like in the movies, but a lot less climatic. I savor this sight, this last sight that will be recorded by this eye filled with regret. A single drop of tear run down my cheek, I'm going to die anyway, so there's no wrong and no shame in shedding a tear.

It came, the heat aren't so bad. I feel light-headed, no pain is felt, maybe my nerves are already burnt to a crisp...

And I think in this fulgurating heat, "What awaits there after death?"

* * *

That's the prologue. Horribly unrelated, huh? This might get deleted before I could post the next chapter (which I will lol if it actually happens).


	2. Daydream of the Dead

**Angel Beats – Arpeggio of Souls  
**_Chord: A combination of three or more notes that blend harmoniously when sounded together._

**Chapter 2** – **Daydream** of the **Dead**

I feel my body. Am I alive?

"Get up, the class is starting." A voice echoed in my ears, a soft voice devoid of emotion.

I opened my eyes and see before me a woman with hair that blends in with the sky, eyes that possess the color of a noble metal. "Are you an angel?" I asked dumbly, it looks like my head hasn't fully operational yet.

"I am not an angel," She responded as if she has been asked that question a thousand times. "I am the student council president." Now that is strange. It seems that I am inside an educational institute of some sort.

"Is this heaven?" I asked just in case. I'm sure I'm engulfed in a fireball just a while ago.

"This is the afterlife." I fall silent at that statement. Yes, that is the most logical conclusion to this situation. I remember the race, the fireball, the pain. My mind just unconsciously rejected all those to be the truth, the tragic truth. Even if I survived the fire, I wouldn't remain unscathed like I am now. This is indeed a world after death.

I don't know why, suddenly I feel really angry. I am mad and I feel the desire to express it to the world.

"Why? Why did you do this to me, God?" Pain is felt, not the ones received by my nerves but by my mind. I just lost everything and suddenly sent here, an afterlife of departed souls. The absurdity of this situation craves my path into insanity. "Why did you prolong my suffering by throwing me into this twisted afterlife?" I shouted as loud as physics allowed me to. I don't care how that 'student council president' reacts. "Anyone! Please explain to me this madness! Who the hell wanted to be thrown into the afterlife after losing everything in his life?" I don't want to be myself anymore. I turn around, facing my back to that girl, "Goddamn it… I'm useless to the very end.

"I don't want to be the failure known as Takuji Ishikuro. "I feel no reason to remain living, take my life, God."

* * *

So I am here, in the class in a school. But what purpose does a school serve? It is to educate. But what remains to be educated to a dead man? What knowledge can be earned by someone who is dead? I am already dead, so I cannot be dead again. That reason was why I didn't die after being mysteriously stabbed by that girl. It's not "death" in a literal sense; it's a period of unconsciousness between being killed and revival in this anomalous world.

On a recent topic, that girl is ridiculously blunt. She didn't have to take my words literally and kill me. I'm having psychological breakdown for God's sake, not a death wish! Her seat is near to mine (in front of me), to make things worse.

After talking to a few of the students, I find that they're… somehow different from that girl whom stabbed me. They're generic, to be as blunt as that girl. They act like a normal student, which does not compute with a school _after death._ The students should be aware of the situation; they're humans too, right? This is the afterlife, so logically all people who died should come here, and in my case, retained their memories.

My conclusion is that I am a special case. Unlike all other 'students' (people who died) in this school, I retained my memory when I was alive.

In the other hand, that blunt girl is a 'watchdog' of this world; someone who maintains the stability of this world by directly interfering with it. Her sense of emotion also seems to be imperfect. An NPC, to say. She is also aware that this is afterlife.

I think this world is also made by God, and therefore that girl is a servant of God, an Angel.

Of course, there are flaws in my logic. An Angel is a servant of God, whom is the Ultimate Good. An Angel should not kill, but she did a moment ago. And again, this is a world where people cannot die, so it doesn't exactly qualify as 'killing' either. This is just too confusing.

Another contradictive point is that she said she is not an angel, but angels can't lie under the Ten Commandments. If what she said is truth, than she is a human, too. But if she is a human, there's a chance that she was lying and she is really an angel. Okay, enough screwing with my own logic. I'll take a cheap guess, she is not an angel and that's final. I need someone, a guide of some sorts that can lead me through this world.

And all I can come up with is, 'That girl who stabbed me'. Asking her is not a good idea. Due to her overwhelmingly blunt nature, I might get stabbed if I asked a strange question. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. I need a weapon, any weapon just in case.

After the first period, I come across a pile of dirt in the backyard of the classroom building. How I wandered there is something not worth discussing (well, I am planning to skip the rest of the lessons and wandered here during break time). So there are plants here, too. I didn't notice earlier because I am too absorbed at that girl. I need a weapon, a simple weapon. A stick made of metal would be sufficient.

I lean against the wall of the pool building and begin to think.

That weapon generated from the right arm of that girl. How that is humanly possible? Perhaps… the laws of this world are more lenient than in the real world? Hell, I don't even know if the afterlife qualifies as real. Perhaps it is the power of an angel? No, if she is an angel she would wipe me out with a humongous energy blast from the gates of heaven just to show how awesome God truly is, although that would qualify as an overkill.

That girl is the student council president, right? So she must be a paragon of how a student acts (seriously, she shouldn't kill if so). This means she will make people abide the rules of this school, and remembering how I am here skipping classes, she will be searching for me soon. Not the time to think about that, anyway. To take a load off my mind, I take as much air as I could into my lungs and breathe it out.

This world is too absurd. The afterlife, humans are trapped in an endless circle of reincarnations, or so I believed. Then, is the afterlife a part of that cycle, are they not? The souls sent here lost their memories and become a normal student, whose act like a normal human does. Still, there is something amiss about those students, they lack something important that humans should possess.

Diversity, that's it. Everyone is different in their own ways, but the students here are pretty much the same. They're like individuals who are described in elementary textbooks, as blank as a white paper. Or if two analogies are needed, those characters generated from filled bios. The 'behavior' part of their report card will say all the same, maybe. Hell, the teacher let me to take a nap during the first period, and that's when I sat on the front row.

My earlier theory is wrong. The students may be _physically _human, but they are not _fully_ human. They're a simple character with well-made dialogue trees. NPCs, if I must be analogical. From that logic, another question arises. Am I the only human here?

An hour felt like a minute. All of a sudden, my stomach growls in agony. Wait, dead people needs food? I can't die again of starvation, right? Just to be on the safe side, I decide to search for the café, every school should have one and because this is an especially large school, the range of foods available must be wide, wide enough to fit my western tastes. Finding a weapon comes first, so no food until then.

I look at the fence near me. One of the steel poles is quite literally hanging; one side cut by something and only held in place by barb wires. A sharp blade, perhaps? But no, this is a regulated school and the existence of a weapon is questionable. I walk to the fence and pulled the steel pole with all my might; that pole is quite durable, and the cut barbwire adds some dangerous look to the soon-to-be-weapon.

It is just as I thought, pulling that thing off is harder when you have an empty stomach, or the fence just did its job well, a little bit too well. So I reorganize my list of priorities and the topmost of that list is to get something to eat. After that I can try to pull the pole again.

I started to walk with heavy steps. The damn problem is that I don't know where the café is, I would trade my clothes with a map by now. The second period has just finished. Presumably, the student council president will be hunting me down now. I wander to the big building, which seems to be the café.

"What… in the world?" I totally don't expect this to happen, the girl is right in front of me with a hard-to-detect stern expression.

"So, what are you planning to do?" I am foolishly trying to be polite here. I already knew this isn't going to work out; she's your emotionless student council president. Expect to be dragged by the collar to the classroom.

"I will bring you into the class." A blunt answer alright. Still, it is spoken softly that you can't tell if she's going to accompany you nicely or drag you mercilessly to the class.

There's only one thing to do if I doesn't want to attend class and waste my time, run. Until the third period bell rang. She has to attend classes herself as the student council president. I should run until the bell of salvation ring. She just stood there for several seconds. Good, she is aware that she can't catch up to me. I'm pretty athletic after all, so I doesn't expect her to pursu…

Hey, this is cheating. The girl gives a chase without breaking a sweat; it is very surprising that she slowly catch up to my position. Her agility isn't normal. She's covering meters in mere seconds and will get me in ten seconds or less.

I said to her, or more like taunting her, "Cut it out, you'll strain yourself!"

That must hit a nerve, although her expression is unchanging, her speed is increasing steadily into inhuman levels. I take a turn to the right to the shades of sunset beside the classroom building and lose her there. Ah, she forgot to brake and is having a hard time cornering, great speed comes with great consequences.

She's still on my tail although her cornering has restored the distance. Entering this downhill road, I quickly formulate the means of my escape. Entering the classroom building is suicide, I don't know the insides and most likely to run into a dead end. Alright, I'm going to make it into the bridge to the left and jump from it, I can swim, after all.

Heavens, I tripped.

* * *

So I'm back in the classroom and I'm sure that girl is now keeping an eye on me. This sucks, even suckier than my life, if I am allowed to compare. Doing nothing during the break time like I am now is simply boring. The fourth period will start soon and my hunger are getting worse per second, I wasted too much calorie running from this girl.

Another student approaches my desk, he is quite stylish with his black hair and sharp pair of green eyes. I envy green eyes; they look nicer compared to my eyes of brown. I have a nicer hair color than him, though, that is dark blue.

"So you're the newcomer this time, huh?" He asked me.

"Yeah, a student out of nowhere." I replied to the boy. That girl is a watchdog of this world; I still stand on that opinion. So if I cause instabilities in this world, such as letting the NPCs know that this is the afterlife, she'll fix it. Possibly by killing the NPC and me.

The boy sighed, "We masquerade no NPCs here. You're dead and you know that." That triggered a switch of happiness, I just found someone who is actually human. "I would like to talk to you, after school. If we talk now it would take too long and Tachibana will get mad."

"Tachibana?" I asked spontaneously.

"The one in front of you, who else? I won't bother to remember an NPC's name." That caught me by surprise. That girl could get mad? Nah, his sentence hints that he is only aware of three actual human beings here. Me, himself and this Tachibana girl. But the first order of business is to excavate more information.

"That is pretty rude of you to not introduce yourself."

"Ah, sorry about that. My name is Tsumemasa Homura. If you wouldn't mind, call me the Programmer." He said in haste. Homura, his first name means flame, which is the rate his mouth is spitting words at.

"Huh? The Programmer?" I asked without a clue of what he might mean.

"Creator of Angel Player, you won't understand anyway. I want to ask you, what is your regret when you are living?" He asked me impatiently but fluently, as if he is trained to ask that question. His body is well-built; he is still in his early twenties from what I can tell. A shame he died young. Well, I died when I was eighteen, so that is my current age.

"Hey, hey! It won't be impolite if I don't introduce myself as well. My name is Takuji Ishikuro, nice to meet you." I smiled gently; first impression is a key to making frien…

"I said details are not important. What is your regret? Answer me." He cut off my train of thought just like that.

This young boy is a tad too energetic and rushed, "Okay, my regret is not being able to help my girlfriend from her incurable sickness. Not be able to live happily with her. And I never get to say goodbye to my friends and families."

"Hmmm, the last one is standard. But the first and second one is strong… Yep, you should do as the last member."

"Standard? Strong? What those had to do with regrets?"

"Duh, your density is above steel. Standard regrets are family, friend, property and such. The only strong regret is love."

"What's the difference?"

"Only love-related regrets capable of keeping us here even if we are happy, because we can never be truly happy with that kind of regret."

"I have to disagree in that line of thinking. Love precedes friendship and family precedes love. What would happen if we find our love here, anyway?"

"…" The boy fell silent at my reply, "Than, things would turn out very messy." I noticed a trace of sadness just now. Must be my mixed-up feelings. "Tell me, why do you think you're here?"

"My life sucks and that's why I'm here." I give him a joke reply. Surprise surfaced on his face.

"Huh? You are absolutely correct! I never expect someone like you to get it on the first day. Yes, you're definitely the one we need." He just becomes 120% more hyper than before, evident by his louder voice.

He turned his body as the bell rings, sending waves of sound throughout the afterlife. "Come with me after school, we will meet again in the main dining hall."

I never expected that my death will be a beginning of an entirely new adventure.

* * *

A/N: Yep, we're getting closer to the point. Sorry I cannot get to the point where the Protagonist actually interacts with Kanade. I had a little writer's block (more like writer's fear) of getting the geographical setting wrong during the chase scene, luckily I found a handy map of the school.

Thanks for reading. Leave a review if you want, it would be much appreciated.


	3. Plot Holes and Revelations

**Angel Beats - Arpeggio of Souls**  
_Guide: __Someone who can find paths through unexplored territory._

Disclaimer: I don't own Angel Beats! (I see myself making a more successful story than it in the future) and the characters within the series. But Takuji is mine.

**Chapter 3 – Plot Holes** and** Revelations**

Life of a Takuji Ishikuro, my life.

It was bound to end during that traffic accident, when I thought I will die without ever accomplishing anything significant, when I thought I will never be able to help my beloved, make my family proud nor allow a smile in the face of my friends.

But God is strange, he has plans for people like me even after my death, who thought himself is useless.

｢Afterlife｣: Its purpose varies depending on what its inhabitant views it as. It can be a placeholder of a more tragic story than you could ever imagine, or it can become the eternal paradise human has longed since their creation. We, the semi permanent residents of this world are able to decide its purpose, because we understand this world is a world that has no purpose when it was created.

We, souls with darkened past are the ones who give this place a meaning, a purpose. Life is unfair; this place is simply a space of leniency from that unfairness somewhere in this abstract reality. It grants anyone within it the cures of their diseases, the hope in their dreams and pseudo-immortality.

"So, do you find her interesting?" the self-acclaimed, so called Programmer asks me, breaking the long train of thought and collected philosophy I've been thinking when walking to the entrance of the pool.

"Who?" I know it's obvious, but in case he tries to trick me into thinking that I'm interested in that blunt girl. I'm not going to fall for that old trick.

"Who else can it be but Tachibana Kanade, the student council president."

"Not really, she's just not my type." I answered. Being stabbed during our first meeting isn't exactly a good way to obtain a good impression from me. "Who is she, technically?"

"She is just like us, humans. Sinful creatures, we are." His demeanor are skillfully fabricated, a minute ago he was a little bit… no, _overly_ cheerful.

"Stop being all poetic, that doesn't suit you. Tachibana Kanade, her powers aren't normal. The blade from her arms and her abnormal running speed are never allowed in reality, both physically and biologically." The correct decision would be to analyze any and every information I had collected during the course of the day.

"Marvel before the revelation in your palms. I am the one who granted her those powers; Hand Sonic and Overdrive are what they called. They are not painfully complicated, nor easy to make." He put his hands in the pockets of his uniform pants, slowly walking to my direction.

"If so, then what are you? To be able to grant her those powers, let alone possessing those powers is impossible. Or are you an existence of a higher level than I am?"

"I am a human with the right to change the reality of this world. The creator and a user of Angel Player, The Programmer." He took another step towards me. The evening sky is filled with cloud, a downpour will occur in an hour.

"Explain Angel Player to me, in layman's terms." I just felt the need to put the last bit in. He's a programmer, after all.

"Simply, it is software that allows you to bend reality as you see fit. Although it can't change the core mechanics of this world, it allows a degree of freedom in shaping it."

"You're lying." I knew it from the start. No matter how lenient reality is, one cannot independently change it.

"I am not. Sadly, I don't bring my laptop with me, what a shame. You are the one who is denying the truth before your eyes. Shall I make you understand, then?"

"You had shown me no truth in that statement since we met."

"Really? Perhaps the abnormality present in the student council president's power was not evidential enough? She could just make you understand first hand, then."

"So you intend to coerce me into believing something that is not possible? Good luck in trying so!" I draw from my back pocket to my right hand the knife I found in the kitchen at the dining hall (I sneaked inside to grab some food). I know something like this is bound to happen sometime near, it's just like I had said. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

"If you accept things the way they are, this matter would be much, much simpler. But you're stubborn even after you died." He sighed in annoyance. He has no weapons. I will just run away from him and leave him there for his own good.

"Hand Sonic." It echoed from my back, that soft voice is the beginning of a world of pain. In reflex, I spin and rolled as far as I could from the assailant. If you look at my state from the bird eye's view and connect a line between from the Programmer, the assailant and me, an isosceles triangle will be formed, with the Programmer being the apex.

I stand and steady my gaze at the armed assailant. "Tachibana Kanade." She is the student council president who killed me once, and I won't let her do it the second time. I paid a glance at the Programmer, but that decision is fatal. Her bladed right arm grazes mine. I guess I am lucky this once. Her error of not killing me in the first blow opens a momentum where I swing my arms upwards as hard as my body allows, stabbing her in the stomach.

She blocks it with her handy left arm, also equipped with a blade. It is easy to read her next move. She spins like a tornado, slicing everything in her path. I timed it just right to duck the wheel of death and kick her leg, effectively destroying her balance. But that doesn't slow her down, she stabbed both blades to the ground, breaking her fall, and grabs my neck between her legs, to finish it, she swing and throw me behind her. It's like doing a half somersault and back standing.

More importantly, how she is able to pull of such a move without breaking a sweat? This must be the 'Overdrive' ability of hers, granting tremendous amounts of physical strength, which in this fight qualifies as an outright handicap to her. I cannot win by brute force, or to put it in context, I cannot win this fight clean and honest.

I lunge towards the Programmer, his hilarious expression of surprise serves as a little mental boost in my mind. The lunge gracefully succeeds, resulting in my arms grabbing his shirt and his back slams against the ground. I placed my knife right in front his neck and threaten him, "So, the winner is pretty clear, huh?"

"What are you planning to do with that knife? We can't really die, you know?" He's right, but dying is painful. And I'll make him feel that pain at least once.

"I will still kill you, alright?" I am about to stab him in the heart. But…

A foreign object pierces my heart, which is her blade, Hand Sonic. The pain is horrible but I find myself unable to scream. I'm still alive for several seconds, and knowing I will surely be back, I put one last crack…

"Nice sword."

The world before me fades out to black.

Once more, my eyes are open wide in another foreign room. The hospital-like scent and sounds of sports activity outside the room suggests that I am now located in the infirmary of the school. I turn my face right, setting my eyes on the two human figures standing beside the bed I am laying on. Their identities are obvious.

"So, what are you planning to do after this?" I ask the Programmer in annoyance. The glare effect prevents me from seeing his face, but I can't be wrong.

"Inviting you to join us, of course." He replied as casual as the atmosphere.

"Try doing that when I'm in a better mood, will you?" Not bothering to hear his reply, I turn my body over and try to comprehend the reality of this situation and feel my body to make sure my organs are right. The experience of death is truly painful, a good incentive to still take it seriously even in this world. "I had negative interest in joining your group."

"You know that we could abuse this setting of world where one can't die and torture you endlessly, right?"

Now that he mentioned it, the idea does look very scary. The potential to abuse this world's setting is really, really big. "Eh, you can't just do that, right?" Well, I'm off my usual composure a bit.

He chuckled a bit before replying, "I can." Woah, there's some actual bloodlust in that pair of eyes.

"So, let's say I agreed with this whole thing. Just what in the afterlife are you doing?" Can't help it. This coercive person called the Programmer is my only proxy to information.

"We deliver souls." That reminds me of a certain imagebo— Wait, what?

"Deliver souls? As in… sending them somewhere?" I tried to put his statement better.

"You're a fast learner, Takuji." I don't like how he refers to me by my first name. But angering him at this stage is pretty suicidal. With no weapons nor preparations, I have zero chance against the girl. "People with bad pasts wander here without knowing how and why. But we are a small group of people, specialized to inform them and grant them their dreams."

"Ha, "grant them their dreams", you sound like a molester." Whoops, me and my big snarky mouth.

"I thought you had stopped looking for trouble…"

"Sorry for that, I don't mean it."

He sighed in relief, "So, you might be asking now, "For what purpose we did that?" the answer was rather simple..." He paused in a vain attempt to buff up a revelation, poor man.

"Just spill the beans already, you slowpoke." And I exercise my right to probe him of his weaknesses.

"Stop ruining the mood!" He shouted comically. "We make them disappear, sending them to the next cycle of life."

"I appreciate there's another person sharing my belief in reincarnations… But making them disappear just sounds evil." My honest opinion.

"I agree, this matter of sending people off is controversial as we don't have actual proof that they _really_ reincarnate. But Tachibana and I, we share this belief. Although her version differs a bit, you can ask her yourself about how she feels about this." He stated proudly. This programmer…

…he might make a good friend.

"So, would you like to join us?"

"I can't really say no, can I?" I stood from the bed. "Even if I say no, you'll just force me until I say otherwise."

"Well, welcome to the group." He offered a handshake which I gladly answered with the same gesture.

So finally I entered this group of people. Although Tachibana kept silent, I believe we can sympathize with each other, all of us have a past darker than black, but even if you can't wash away darkness… You can still paint it with light.

* * *

"Does the group have a name?" I asked him, the three of us are walking down the school corridors. Tachibana offered me a small detour in the school and I agreed.

"Umm… no, now I think about it, can you suggest something?"

"The Soul Senders?"

"No, it's too direct for a name. How about the Chords of Destiny?" He becomes cheerful again, filled with glee like his usual. It appears that cheerful is his true nature. One can't run from that.

"Are you mad? This isn't an anime! Although I admit Knights of Souls has a good ring around it."

"Tachibana's a girl, and therefore not a knight." He commented.

"Are you sexist or something?"

"What the..! I'll blast a hole in you until you take that back!"

"Hey, you can't be serious."

The chatter continues as we walk further… as friends.

So my new 'life' begins at the afterlife, I wonder what God has in store for the three of us? People who devote their souls for another's cause… Although I'm not sure if what are we doing is the right thing. No, it's too early to say that. Things just have begun, and before I'm able to judge whether what are we doing is right or wrong… I'll just enjoy my 'life' until that moment comes.

Yeah, I'm starting to fear if that moment comes too soon.

* * *

A/N: I'm back from the dead, my dear readers! And better than ever! So now I've gotten back my hard disk, my miserable pile of secrets, I can plunge myself back into the world of writing! Now, the story finally arrives somewhere. I hope you enjoyed it. (No, this is not the end of the story, although you may interpret it as one.)


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